The United States will provide a dozen unarmed aerial spy drones to Pakistan for the first time as part of an effort to encourage Pakistan's cooperation in fighting Islamic militants on the Afghanistan border, American defense officials said Thursday. But Pakistani military leaders, rebuffing American pressure, said they planned no new offensives for at least six months.
The Shadow drones, which are smaller than armed Predator drones, will be a significant upgrade in the Pakistanis' reconnaissance and surveillance ability and will supply video to help cue strikes from the ground or the air.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is in Pakistan on a two-day visit, disclosed plans for the drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, in an interview with a Pakistani television reporter.
Shortly before Gates' remarks, the chief spokesman of the Pakistani Army indicated that the army would not begin any assault against militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan for six to 12 months, pushing back against calls by the United States to root out militants staging attacks along the Afghan border.
The army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, told U.S. reporters at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi that Pakistan had to stabilize its gains and contain Taliban militants scattered by offensives already opened last year. "We are not capable of sustaining further military operations," Abbas said.
The developments underscored the difficulties that President Obama now faces in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even as the Taliban has stepped up attacks on both sides of the border, the Pakistani Army has been reluctant to take on all of its factions in all parts of the country's tribal areas.
Pakistan, which already has some limited surveillance ability, has long asked for drone technology from the United States, arguing that it should have the same resources to watch and kill militants on its own soil as does the Central Intelligence Agency, which conducts regular drone strikes in Pakistan.
JUSTICE RULES ON GITMO DETAINEES
A Justice Department-led task force has concluded that nearly 50 detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be held indefinitely without trial under the laws of war, according to Obama administration officials. The task force's findings represent the first time that the Obama administration has clarified how many detainees it considers too dangerous to release but unprosecutable because officials fear trials could compromise intelligence-gathering and because detainees could challenge evidence obtained through coercion.
